Please forgive me for not updating sooner! I feel so bad I wasn't able to do it in time T.T
Sora: So, what's your excuse this time?
Exam week and other school stuff? Project work and meetings?
Sora: Fine, I forgive you.
:gasp: Sora forgave me?! Seriously?!
Sora: I was actually hoping that this day would never come. To meet the parents for the first time...after three years of dating...this is the worst...
Aww, is it that bad?
Sora: OF COURSE IT IS BAD! AT THIS RATE I'M STARTING TO HYPERVENTILATE!
Deep, calming breaths, Sora. By the way, this chapter is dedicated to my faithful reviewer, demonsadist! Thank you for always leaving a review! So everyone, please enjoy Sora's misery!
Meet the Marui family
Sora stared out of the window, hardly blinking as she gazed at the passing scenery. She was on her way to finally meet her boyfriend's family. Said boyfriend was driving the car, by the way.
"Sora, are you still mad at me for not introducing you earlier?" Marui asked as he turned left.
"I'm not mad..." Sora mumbled.
"Then why are you sulking?" Another left.
"I'm not sulking, I'm nervous."
"Not to worry, my parents don't even know that you're coming over." Left.
"That's even worse! And how many times are you going to turn left?!"
"We're here!" Marui announced and stopped the car in front of an average house with an average garden and an average fence.
"...it looks frighteningly normal..."
Marui simply got out of the car and opened her door. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!" he said and pulled her out. He then proceeded to lead her towards the front door. Just as he was about to ring the bell, a loud scream and some crashing sounds broke out in the house. Sora's face fell and she turned on her heels. "On second thought, let's go back. I don't have to meet your family."
Marui grabbed her by her collar and dragged her in. "I'm home! And I brought my girlfriend with me!" he yelled as they stepped in.
Hasty footsteps neared them and soon two boys appeared before the couple. Both of the boys had slightly reddish brown hair and they looked to be about 10-14. They stared at Sora with wide eyes, mouths hanging open, completely stunned. This made her feel just a little tiny bit uncomfortable.
"Bunta? You came already?" a woman's voice came from the kitchen and a brown-haired lady appeared. She blinked at the two standing there, Sora completely frozen and Marui calmly taking his shoes off. "Oh? And who is this young miss?" she asked curiously.
"Mom, this is my girlfriend Sakaki Sora. Sora, this is my mom Misaki. These two are my little brothers Eiki and Yuuki." (I have no idea if he even has little brothers, but let's just pretend that he does, ok?)
"My, a girlfriend? Hello, Sakaki-san, I'm Marui Misaki. Thank you for looking after my son," Misaki smiled warmly and bowed.
"Uh, no, please don't," Sora stuttered and flailed her hands in front of her. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm so sorry for not coming to introduce myself earlier."
"Earlier? What do you mean?" Misaki blinked.
"Umm, well the thing is that..." Sora gulped uneasily, "I've been dating your son for about three years already."
Misaki's smile dropped completely as she turned to her eldest son. "Bunta, is this the same girl you mentioned a year ago? You've had such a cute and adorable (Sora flinched and tried not to look too disgusted) girlfriend for years and only now I get to see her face?"
"Mom, I'm sorry, okay? There's been a lot of work and -"
"You left me completely in the dark! I can't believe how cruel you are!" Misaki wailed.
"Marui-san, I'm so sorry for not reminding him! Please don't cry!" Sora pleaded. 'This is why I hate visiting relatives! I shouldn't have said anything to her!'
Misaki made a miraculous recovery and smiled. "At least you are a good child, Sakaki-san. Please, come inside. I would like to change a few words between us women. The boys can go and play."
Sora was led into the kitchen and sat on a chair as Misaki served tea and cookies. Sora felt really nervous, especially now that her "prince charming" wasn't there to help her.
" So, Sakaki-san, how old are you?" Misaki asked.
"Please call me Sora, Marui-san. If you call me Sakaki-san it reminds me of my guardian, Tarou."
"So you're that Sakaki Tarou's daughter?"
"Well, a niece would be closer to the truth. A pretty distant relative, but due to my parent's death he has been my guardian since I was six."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, could you please tell me something else about yourself?"
"I'm 17, currently studying show business to become a manager in the future. My hobbies are dancing and reading. I live alone, since I moved out of Tarou's apartment to a smaller one closer to my school. My favourite singer is Avril Lavigne and I don't really like skirts or dresses. I'm too nervous to come up with anything else so feel free to ask if you want to know something."
Misaki smiled warmly and sipped her tea. "There is no need to feel nervous, Sora-san, I won't bite you. But you appear to be quite different from what Bunta told me. He said that you're more of a tomboy than a well-behaved lady," she chuckled.
Sora blushed. "Ah, that is -"
"You don't have to explain, I understand. I'm sure you're feeling very uncomfortable alone with me, right? From the way Bunta described you, I figured you would be afraid of me at least a little."
Sora blinked. "So he really has mentioned me?"
"Of course! Bunta was very excited every time we asked him about his girlfriend. Though I wonder why he never brought you along on his visits..."
"I'm home!" a man's voice came from the door and soon after a man in his forties came into the kitchen. He blinked at Sora and scratched his black hair with a confused look. "Who might this young miss be? I don't think we've met before..."
"Honey, this is Sakaki Sora, Bunta's girlfriend. Sora-san, this is my husband Marui Yuuji." Misaki introduced them.
"Nice to meet you," Sora smiled as best as she could. Considering the situation, it wasn't the best of her smiles...
Yuuji bent down to look at her. He checked her over before nodding and straightening up. "I approve of you, Sora-san. You may become our daughter."
Sora blinked. "What...do you mean by that?"
"Marriage, of course! And grandchildren! I'm sure if your looks and Bunta's talent were to be mixed together it would become a perfect child!" Yuuji explained excitedly.
Sora paled. "Please wait, I -"
"Onee-san!" the youngest brother, Yuuki, called and ran to Sora. "Come play with us! Nii-san said that you're a dancer, so I want to see how good you are at DDR!"
"Yuuki, we were in the middle of -"
"Please go play with the boys, Sora-san. You have to get to know them too, after all." Misaki smiled, and so Sora was dragged to the living room.
"I brought her as you asked, Nii-san!" Yuuki reported once they had reached the other two boys.
"Thanks, Yuuki. I think you just saved my beloved princess from the clutches of the evil demon king," Marui grinned and ruffled Yuuki's hair.
"Isn't rescuing the princess the prince's job? Why send a knight?" Eiki smirked. "The princess might fall for her rescuer."
"Indeed, I think I'm going to give up on the prince and fall in love with sir Yuuki." Sora smirked evilly and hooked her arm with Yuuki's.
"I'm honoured, dear lady," Yuuki smiled widely.
"Might I be able to get my own share of this, Your Highness?" Eiki asked as he stepped forward.
"Sir Eiki may be my lover, if he so wishes," Sora smiled.
"I am honoured, my lady," Eiki said and made a grand bow.
"Then what would my role in this play be?" Marui asked.
"You are bestowed the role of the jester" Sora smiled evilly and the two knights howled in laughter.
"This jester isn't about to admit defeat." Marui smirked and swiftly picked Sora up into his arms. "I'm kidnapping this fair lady!"
The parents watched as their sons played childishly with the young woman. They were all laughing and Misaki smiled happily. "Sora-san is such a cheerful girl, isn't she, Yuuji?"
Her husband nodded. "Judging by what I've seen and heard, I'm more than willing to let her into the family. If Bunta doesn't want her, maybe Eiki could -"
"She's older than him..." Misaki reminded.
"By a couple of years, it doesn't matter after turning 20" Yuuji waved it off.
"I don't think Bunta will be letting go of her anytime soon." Misaki said amusedly and went back into the kitchen. "I'm going to prepare dinner, come and help me wash the vegetables."
Marui and Sora watched as the younger two battled out on DDR. Sora was forced to sit right next to him, not that she minded, and she assumed he was jealous even when it came to his own brothers. Well, she had flirted with them quite shamelessly just now, but at the moment she had had nothing else she could have done so she had went along with their play.
"You really are brothers." Sora chuckled. "Your brothers are just as flirtatious as you and they're what, middle school students?"
"Yuuki's a freshman and Eiki's a senior in middle school. And I'm relieved that they're like me and not like dad; he's hopeless..." Marui sighed.
"Speaking of Yuuji-san...he seems a little pushy" Sora whispered to him.
"More like obsessed with the opposite sex." Marui laughed. "That was the main reason why I never brought you over."
Sora blinked. "I thought you forgot."
"No, I just knew you would freak out after hearing his usual speech about marriage and kids." Marui explained and glanced at her. "It's your turn, Sora."
"Huh?"
Suddenly Eiki grabbed her wrist and pulled her up. "Okay Sora-nee, let's see if you can beat my record!"
"Wha-? I've never played DDR before!" Sora protested.
"It's easy, you'll learn fast. Okay, start!" Yuuki grinned.
"Your brothers are evil, Marui-kun!" Sora wailed.
The boys just laughed.
After having a noisy dinner with the Maruis the happy couple started taking their leave. Sora felt relieved to finally get to leave the house. No offense, she really liked Misaki and the boys but Yuuji had been at least hinting about "grandchildren" and "honeymoon" all the time they spent in the same room and that was very pressuring to her. Worst thing was that he didn't even seem to notice her discomfort. He truly was obsessed...
"Please come and see us again anytime!" Misaki said as she gave Sora a warm motherly hug.
"Thank you, I'm happy I got to meet you." Sora said and slightly hugged her back.
"I can't believe you got such a high score. Next time we'll have a duel!" Eiki challenged.
"Sure, sure." Sora rolled her eyes. "I'm just going to make you cry."
"We'll see about that!"
"Come on, Sora, let's get going!" Marui said quite impatiently and started pulling her away from his family. Or maybe just from his brother...
"Take care, you two!" Misaki called after them.
"See you, nee-san!" Yuuki waved.
"Remember the grandchildren!"
Sora sat inside the car and waved until Marui drove off. Then she let out a huge sigh and slumped back on her seat. Marui glanced at her. "Tired?"
"Guess," Sora moaned. "Your father is too persistent."
"He's hopeless, but he seems to really like you."
"I wasn't exactly myself back there."
"And they all know it. I've told them quite a lot about you, after all."
"We don't have to hurry for another visit anytime soon, just so you know."
Marui laughed. "Understood."
There! It's finally done! Ow, my arm hurts...
Sora: No one told you to write in such an inhuman position. You can only blame yourself.
I just love it when you're like that...anyways, the next chapter is not going to appear until I get up to 35 reviews! And this time I'm serious!
Sora: poakkis seems to be depressed since she has only 28 reviews. Her inner perfectionist in acting up again.
And starting next chapter the plot is going to get more intense! Remember Joni, the ex-fiancé?
Sora: Oh, that pervert. What about him?
He's finally going to start his evil plot to get Sora! So, once the number 35 appears on the screen, the next chapter will come! So REVIEW PEOPLE!
Sora: Over and out.